Wind and rain expected to bring weekend travel disruptionon December 8, 2023 at 3:16 pm

Yellow weather warnings for wind and rain are in place for large parts of the UK on Friday and Saturday, likely causing weekend travel disruption.

Severe weather is expected in western and central England, as well as Wales, southwest Scotland and Northern Ireland, according to the Met Office.

Almost 30 flood warnings, where flooding is expected, are in place.

This includes around the River Severn in Gloucestershire and along the River Ouse near York.

About 150 flood alerts, where flooding is considered possible, are also in force.

Strong winds are expected across Wales and much of central England between 09:00 GMT and 23:45 on Saturday, with the Met Office warning that transport services could be disrupted.

A yellow weather warning for heavy rain is also in place for parts of southwest England on Saturday morning.

Communities in southwest Scotland, from Dumfries to beyond the Isle of Arran and as far east as Jedburgh, are expected to receive heavy rain from Friday evening until around 21:00 on Saturday.

There is a risk of flooding, as well as travel and power disruption, the Met Office said.

Rain and wind warnings are also in place across much of Northern Ireland on Saturday, possibly bringing flooding and travel disruption.

A series of flood warnings are in place around the East Midlands due to recent rainfall and the weekend’s melting snow.

The weekend rains follow a bout of cold and wintry weather in recent days, said BBC weather presenter Helen Willetts. Rain and warmer winds from the Atlantic Ocean are contributing to thawing snow from the past week which will “exacerbate the risk of flooding”.

The rain will be followed on Saturday and overnight into Sunday by “potentially very windy weather, a brief window of drier weather, before more rain comes in during Sunday”.

“So we’re going to see a succession of these weather fronts moving in off the Atlantic just adding up those rainfall totals,” she said.